In 1781 twelve families trooped north from Mexico to California. On a stream along the desert’s edge, they built a settlement called Los Angeles. For many years it was a market town, where nearby farmers and ranchers met to trade. Then in 1876 a railroad linked Los Angeles to San Francisco and, through San Francisco, to the rest of the country. The next year farmers sent their first trainload of oranges east. By 1885 a new railroad provided a direct route between Los Angeles and Chicago. Then in the 1890’s oil was discovered in the city. As derricks went up, workers built many highways and pipe lines. Digging began on a harbor that would make Los Angeles not only an ocean port but also a fishing center. The harbor was completed in 1914. That year the Panama Canal opened. Suddenly Los Angeles was the busiest port on the Pacific Coast. Today the city is the main industrial center in the West. It produces goods not only for other West Coast communities but also for those in other parts of the country. It leads the nation in making airplanes and equipment for exploring outer space. Many motion pictures and television programs are filmed in Los Angeles. The city is also the business center for states in the West. Improvements in transportation are the main reason for Los Angeles’ growth.

He was a funny looking man with a cheerful face, good natured and a great talker. He was described by his student, the great philosopher Plato, as “the best and most just and wisest man“. Yet this same man was condemned (判刑) to death for his beliefs. The man was the Greek philosopher, Socrates, and he was condemned for not believing in the recognized gods and for corrupting young people. The second charge stemmed from his association with numerous young men who came to Athens from all over the civilized world to study under him. Socrates’ method of teaching was to ask questions and, by pretending not to know the answers, to press his students into thinking for themselves. His teachings had unsurpassed influence on all the great Greek and Roman schools of philosophy. Yet, despite his fame and influence, Socrates himself never wrote a word. Socrates encouraged new ideas and free thinking in the young, and this was frightening to the conservative people. They wanted him silenced. Yet, many were probably surprised that he accepted death so readily. Socrates had the right to ask for a lesser penalty, and he probably could have won over enough of the people who had previously condemned him. But Socrates, as a firm believer in law, reasoned that it was proper to submit to the death sentence. So he calmly accepted his fate and drank a cup of poison in the presence of his grief-stricken friends and students.

(fashion) My mother disliked my new hat, though it was the latest style worn by______ women in Paris.

(passionate) She sprang upon the neck of her friend, kissed her ______, and then fled with her treasure.

(alarm) Never mind who I am, and don’t ______ get______:I’m not going to hurt you.

(63)The fortunate people in the world, the only really fortunate people in the world, in my mind, are those whose work is also their pleasure. The class is not a large one, not nearly so large as it is often represented to be; and authors are perhaps one of the most important elements in its composition. They enjoy in this respect at least a real harmony of life. (64) To my mind, to be able to make your work your pleasure is the one class distinction in the world worth striving for; and I do not wonder that others are inclined to envy those happy human beings who find their livelihood in the gay effusions of their fancy, to whom every hour of labour is an hour of enjoyment to whom repose—however necessary is a tiresome interlude, and even a holiday is almost deprivation. (65) Whether a man writes well or ill,has much to say or little, if he cares about writing at all, he will appreciate the pleasures of composition. To sit at one’s table on a sunny morning, with four clear hours of uninterruptible security,plenty of nice white paper, and a Squeezer pen that is true happiness. (66)The complete absorption of the mind up-on an agreeable occupation, what more is there than to desire? What does it matter what happens outside? The House of Commons may do what it like, and so may the House of Lords. The heathen may rage furiously in every part of the globe. The bottom may be knocked clean out of the American market. Consols may fall and suffragettes may rise. (67) Never mind, for four hours, at any rate, we will withdraw ourselves from a common, ill governed, and disorderly world, and with the key of fancy unlock that cupboard where all the good things of the infinite are put away. (From The Joys of Writing)

No sooner had the first intrepid male aviators safely returned to Earth than it seemed that women, too, had been smitten by an urge to fly. From mere spectators they became willing passengers and finally pilots in their own right, plotting their skills and daring line against the hazards of the air and the skepticism of their male counterparts. In doing so, they enlarged the traditional bounds of a women’s world, won for their sex a new sense of competence and achievement, and contributed handsomely to the progress of aviation. But recognition of their abilities did not come easily. “Men do not believe us capable. “ the famed aviator Amelia Earhart once remarked to a friend. “Because we are women, seldom are we trusted to do an efficient job. “ Indeed old attitudes died hard: when Charles Lindbergh visited the Soviet Union in 1938 with his wife, Anne — herself a pilot and gifted proponent of aviation—he was astonished to discover both men and women flying in the Soviet Air Force. Such conventional wisdom made it difficult for women to raise money for the up-to-date equipment they needed to compete on an equal basis with men. Yet they did compete, and often they triumphed finally despite the odds. Ruth Law, whose 590-mile flight from Chicago to Hornell, New York, set a new nonstop distance record in 1916, exemplified the resourcefulness and grit demanded of any woman who wanted to fly. And when she addressed the Aero Club of America after completing her historic journey, her plainspoken words testified to a universal human motivation that was unaffected by gender; “My flight was done with no expectation of reward,“ she declared, “just purely for the love of accomplishment. “

In every society it is necessary to have a general system of laws to ensure justice. Laws are designed to make certain that people’s rights are protected and that people respect each other’s rights. Sometimes, however, laws are passed which are specific to a time or situation. For example, a town in Indiana once passed a law making it illegal to shoot open a can of food. Apparently, some gun-carrying citizens forgot their can openers and naturally enough, used their guns to do the job. This disturbed other citizens, and endangered their lives, so a law was passed to prevent it Specific laws sometimes remain in existence long after the problem has disappeared. The laws then seem strange. For example, the Indiana law was no longer necessary when citizens stopped carrying guns and using them as can-openers. Since the law was no longer needed, what once made sense now seems like nonsense. Sometimes laws designed to serve a good purpose were passed but somehow these became mixed up in their wording. As a result, the laws don’t make sense. In one state there is a law which says that it is“illegal to move or to attempt to move a motor vehicle. “ Obviously, a massive traffic jam would occur if everyone suddenly obeyed that law. But no one does, of course, because the intention of the law was not to prevent owners from moving their own cars. It was to prevent people from moving (stealing) other people’s cars. It is often harder to repeal a law than to pass one, so many of these old laws remain in existence. Because they no longer fit the way people live or because the problem no longer exists, these laws are ignored. Everyone understands that and life goes on. Thus, laws that once made very good sense now seem like nonsense.

In 1781 twelve families trooped north from Mexico to California. On a stream along the desert’s edge, they built a settlement called Los Angeles. For many years it was a market town, where nearby farmers and ranchers met to trade. Then in 1876 a railroad linked Los Angeles to San Francisco and, through San Francisco, to the rest of the country. The next year farmers sent their first trainload of oranges east. By 1885 a new railroad provided a direct route between Los Angeles and Chicago. Then in the 1890’s oil was discovered in the city. As derricks went up, workers built many highways and pipe lines. Digging began on a harbor that would make Los Angeles not only an ocean port but also a fishing center. The harbor was completed in 1914. That year the Panama Canal opened. Suddenly Los Angeles was the busiest port on the Pacific Coast. Today the city is the main industrial center in the West. It produces goods not only for other West Coast communities but also for those in other parts of the country. It leads the nation in making airplanes and equipment for exploring outer space. Many motion pictures and television programs are filmed in Los Angeles. The city is also the business center for states in the West. Improvements in transportation are the main reason for Los Angeles’ growth.

(simple) We think it necessary to______the procedure of application.

(ignore) I didn’t like to ask him to explain more clearly, for I didn’t want to appear______

(rich) The professor emphasized that the goal of the course is to ______ our understanding of other cultures.

(appetite) If I were writing a book on the habits of hedgehogs, I should not commit myself until I had seen one enjoying this______ diet.

What are the problems that the American families are actually facing today? What do these problems indicate?

In recent years, Israeli consumers have grown more demanding as they’ve become wealthier and more worldly wise. Foreign travel is a national passion : this summer alone, one in 10 citizens will go abroad. Exposed to higher standards of service elsewhere,Israelis are returning home expecting the same. American firms have also begun arriving in large numbers. Chains such as KFC, McDonald’s and Pizza Hut are setting a new standard of customer service, using strict employee training and constant monitoring to ensure the friendliness of frontline staff. Even the American habit of telling departing customers to “Have a nice day“ has caught on all over Israel. “Nobody wakes up in the morning and says, ’Let’s be nicer, “’ says Itsik Cohen, director of a consulting firm. “Nothing happens without competition. “ Privatization, or the threat of it, is a motivation as well. Monopolies (垄断者) that until recently have been free to take their customers for granted now fear what Michael Perry, a marketing professor, calls “the revengeful (报复的) consumer“. When the government opened up competition with Bezaq, the phone company, its international branch lost 40% of its market share, even while offering competitive rates. Says Perry, “People wanted revenge for all the years of bad service. “ The electric company, whose monopoly may be short-lived, has suddenly stopped requiring users to wait half a day for a repairman. Now,appointments are scheduled to the half-hour. The graceless E1A1 Airlines, which is already at auction (拍卖), has returned its employees to emphasize service and is boasting about the results in an ad campaign with the slogan,“You can feel the change in the air. “ For the first time, praise outnumbers complaints on customer survey sheets.

When you’re negotiating with someone, listen for the messages that he or she might be sending to you. For example, the word “difficult“ does not mean the same as impossible. Imagine you’re staying in a hotel, and you want to change your room. The manager’s answer of, “That would be very difficult, sir“, does not mean that he is saying “no“. It just means that he wants to know what you are prepared to offer him in return for the change of room. If you are buying a new car, and want to pay less than the price being asked, then the salesman’s comment, “I’m sorry, but we never negotiate on the price“, means that they do negotiate on other things, like the delivery time, or the “extra“ that might be available as part of the purchase. In the same car showroom, if the salesman says, “Sorry, I can’t negotiate prices“, then your response should be to ask who can. The message the salesman is sending suggests that his boss is the one you need to be talking to. In all of these situations, the message is never communicated in clear terms. In any negotiation, the two “players“ wish to get as much out of it as they can, of course. In the three examples above, the salesmen and the hotel manager are hoping that you will accept their price or conditions, but their “messages“ make it clear that there may be room for movement and compromise. In a successful negotiation, the two sides move towards each other and reach agreement on conditions that satisfy both sides.

In 1786 a call went out to all the states inviting them to send delegates to a meeting to be held in Philadelphia in the spring of 1787 【C1】______. No more important meeting has ever been held in America to it came fifty-five men, among them some of the most famous men in our history. They included George Washington who presided over the convention, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton. They worried teadily and in secret from May well into September and adjourned only after they had written a new plan of government to be sent to the thirteen States for approval 【C2】______ .A great English Statesman called this constitution the most remarkable work known to me in modern times to have been produced by the human intellect, at single stroke (so to speak), in its application to political affairs. 【C3】______ . Since then it has been the fundamental law of the nation. “We the people of the United States,“ the Preamble to the Constitution begins, 【C4】______. These purposes were: first, to form a more perfect Union; second, to establish justice; third,to insure domestic peace; fourth, to provide for the blessings of liberty to themselves and their posterity. The makers of the Constitution had no choice but to continue the dual system of governments system under which each of the states would look after its own affairs while a general government would attend to matters that the states could not deal with effectively. 【C5】______No other plan would win the support of any state. This is a basic fact to be kept in mind. The problem was to construct a sovereign nation made up of many sovereign states. The federal government must be built in such a way as to keep it from coming into conflict with the state governments. In solving the problem of the relation of the whole to the parts, 【C6】______ We are now prepared to look briefly at the Constitution itself. What are its leading principles? What are its leading provisions? First of all, the Constitution is based on the principle of delegation of powers. This means that it provides for a national government that has only those powers granted to it in the Constitution by the people. Before it can act in a matter the federal government must find the power to do so in the Constitution. Powers not granted to the United States by the Constitution nor denied by it to the state are reserved to the states or to the people themselves. The states thus have powers that the federal government does not have. 【C7】______, Each state makes its own laws on these matters. Next, the Constitution provides for a federal government based on the principle of the separation of powers. It provides for three distinct departments of government: legislative,executive and judicial. All legislative power granted by the Constitution is given to Congress; the executive power is given to the President and the judicial power is given to the Supreme Court and other federal courts. The Constitution has many provisions intended to keep each department independent and strong. Each department has ways of exerting some control over the others. In this way no department can become all-powerful. The President is Commander-in-Chief of the army and navy, but all the money for supporting an army and navy must be appropriated by Congress. The Supreme Court has power to declare a law passed by Congress and approved by the President unconstitutional and without effect, 【C8】______ The powers granted to the federal government by the Constitution are great enough to make it strong and able to act vigorously in matters relating to the nation as a whole. Congress has the power to levy taxes, maintain an army and navy, declare war, regulate commerce among the states and with foreign nations, admit new states into the Union, and to do many other things. 【C9】______ . The federal courts try all cases arising under the Constitution and under federal laws and treaties. If any state constitution or “state“ law is in conflict with the federal Constitution or with any laws or treaties made in accordance with it, the state constitution or law must give way. 【C10】______ (From The Constitution of the United States) A. People would then be subject to two sets of laws, those of the nation and those of the states in which they lived B. The United States Constitution and the laws and treaties made under it are the Supreme Law of the Land C. but the President appoints Supreme Court justices with the consent of the Senate, and they may be removed from office by Congress if they do not behave as they should D. and it goes on to set forth six purposes in the minds of the people in making and adopting the new form of government E. This meeting was the Constitutional Convention, a great turning point in American history F. It provides for a fair trial for persons accused of crimes, and forbids cruel and unusual punishments G. The document was the Constitution of the United States H. The changes have been made in two ways by formal amendment and by interpretation by the Supreme Court I. Before 1788 had ended, the Constitution had been approved in most of the states and in 1789 it went into effect J. Americans made their chief contribution to political science the federal system K. The President’ s powers include the making of treaties with foreign nations with the consent of the Senate L. The federal government, for example, has no power to pass laws regulating marriage and divorce in the states

(private) In the U. S. , where there are millions and millions of ______ owned automobiles, it is not easy to go downtown in the rush hour.

(crazy) But it seemed equally strange that the Lathrop committee should encourage his______

(evenness) I can see where, in your data bank, there are blank spots and______.

attribute say countless creation established understand see particular about recognize among or Five thousand years ago a story which 【G1】______ of the creation of this world in seven days was common among all the people of western Asia. And this was the Jewish version of it. They vaguely 【G2】______ the making of the land and of the sea and of the trees and the flowers and the birds and of man and woman to their different gods. But it happened that the Jews were the first among all people to 【G3】______ the existence of One Single God. Afterwards, when we come to talk of the days of Moses, we shall tell you how this came 【G4】______. In the beginning, however, the 【G5】______ Semitic tribe which later was to develop into the Jewish nation, worshipped several divinities, just as all their neighbors had done before them for 【G6】______ ages. The stories of the creation, however, which we find in The Old Testament, were written more than a thousand years after the death of Moses, when the idea One God had been accepted by the Jews as an absolutely 【G7】______ fact, and when doubt of His Existence meant exile 【G8】______ death. You will now 【G9】______ how the poet who gave unto the Hebrew people their final version of the beginning of all things, came to describe the gigantic labour of 【G10】______ as the sudden expression of one single and all mighty will, and as the work of their own tribal God, whom they called Jehovah, or the Ruler of the High Heavens. (From The Story of the Bible)

The passage mainly talks about ______. ( )

Where in the passage does the author state the principal cause of the expansion of Los Angeles? ( )

San Francisco is mentioned in the passage for which of the following reasons? ( )

According to the passage, in which year were oranges first shipped from Los Angeles to the East Coast by train? ( )

According to the passage, what was the main commercial activity of Los Angeles during the years directly following its settlement? ( )